Electric laundry iron



June 3, 1930. l G "BR0WN|NG 1,761,192

ELECTRIC LAUNDRY IRON Filed Oct. l, 1927 `2 Sheets-Sheet lv il' @zwei/5.

June 3, 1930. y G., BROWNING 1,761,192

ELECTRIC LAUNDRY IRON Filed Oct. l. 1927 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Zz-7 Vez? fof.

' eof 'e falf/ffzz? Patented June 3,' 1930 UNITED STATES PATENT; OFFICE GEORGE BROWNING, OF WILMETTE, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR TO CHICAGO FLEXIBLE SHAFT COMPANY, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, A CORPORATION OF ILLINOIS ELECTRIC LAUNDRY IRON Application led October 1, 1927. Serial No. 223,265. i

The purpose of this invention is to provide an improved construction of an electric iron and the like having the switch for controlling the circuit by which the heating element is energized located in a hand-piece of the handle of the iron with the operating member of the switch protruding in convenient'position for manipulation by the hand of the user of the 4iron without releasing the grasp upon the hand-piece; and specifically to provideniountings and connections for the inleading circuit and branches to the switch and to the heating ele-ment whichmay be readily connected and insulated and accessible for renewals and replacements with minimum liability to short-circuiting and other inconveniences. It consists in the elements and features of construction shown and described asindicated in the claims.

In the drawings:

Figure l is a side elevation of an electric laundry ironequipped with this invention.

Figure 2 is a vertical longitudinal section at theaxial plane of the hand-piece of thel handle and medial with respect to the width of the body.

Figure 3 is a front end elevation of the handle with the body of the iron broken away.

Figure 4 is a vertical axial section of the hand-piece of the handle. Figure 5 is a sectional rear end elevation with an insulating shield plate removed from the rear handle upright, section being made through the sole and shell cover, as at the line 5 5 on Figure 2.

Figure 6 is a detail horizontal section at the line 6 6 on Figure 5.

Figure 7 is an elevation of the rear insulating shield plate mentioned in the description of Figure 5.-

Figure 8 is a detail section of the handle showing the switch members in full.

Figure 9 is a detail section on the line 9-9 on Figure 8.

Figure 10 is a detail section at t-he line 10-10 on Figure 9.

The structure shown in the drawings comprisesa bodyconsisting of a sole plate, 20, cast iron body member, 21, constituting a reservoir and equalizer for the heat generated may be considered as comprising also the cover shell, 23, which cncloses the body member, 21, and the circuit wires and connections leading to and from the heating coil at the rearend of the iron, said shell being secured in` position for covering said parts by the handle connections, as hereinafter described. The handle comprises a -U-shaped handle support, 24, with front and rear uprights, 25a- 25, to whose upper ends there is secured the hand-piece, 27, hereinafter more particularly described. 28 is the heel bracket having a heel rest, 28a, the same being secured to the cover ,shell and including the guide socket, 28", for the plug terminal of the customary cable for connecting the iron with a source of current.

The handle is attached to the body by means of bolts, 30-30, which serve also for securing the cast iron body member, 21, and the cover shell, 23, bolts ext-ending through all said parts and being screwed into the sole plate.

site ends, the margins of said recesses being cut through at the lower side so that the hand piece may be entered vertically between the vupstanding standards, 25-25, for securement by a screw, 33, and nut, 33a, inserted through holes, 25b and 25C, in the upper end portions'of the standards, 25 and 25a, respectively, which protrude into the recesses, 27", of the hand piece, said screw and nut -engaging respectively the rear end and the forward end of a rod, 35, which extends longitudinally through the hand piece, said rod being bent twice at right angles, as seen at 35a and 35", to oi'set its rear end downwardly in order to leave space in the cavity, 27a, of the hand piece at the rear end for the switch and mounting, as hereinafter described; said Oifset end being bored and tapped .for the screw, 33, which serves also to secure certain other parts, as hereinafter described. At the other end the handle'upright, 25, has the hole, 25, large enough to admit the lult, 33, which has a head, as seen at 33", and being entered The hand piece, 27, is recessed at .its oppothrough the hole, 25, reaches and may be screwed onto the threaded -nut of the rod, 35, when the handle, with the parts hereinafter described assembled in it, is applied to the uprights.

For mounting the Contact pins, 42 and 4?, ot the usualform ,for engagement of the plug terminal of the cable for connection with a source ot' current, a plate, 40, is lodged upon the upper side of the cast iron body ineinber, 21, positioned with respect thereto by downwardly bent lugs, eti-41, which engage holes, 21'-2la, provided for the purpose iu the upper surface of the body member, 21, said plate being further positioned and held in place. by the rear bolt. 80, which extends through an aperture, 40, in the plate, 40. The contact pin, 42, is connected with one end of the heating coil by a conducting strip. 44, a conducting strip, 45, from the other end of the coil being extended up through the plate, 40, behind the handle upright, 25, for connection with the switch, hereinafter described, from which a conducting strip, 46, extends down parallel with the strip, 45, and through the plate, 40, below which it is connected to the Contact post, 43, the switch hereinafter described completing the circuit through the heating coil from contact pin to contact pin. The strips, 45 and 46, are suitably protected by insulation indicated at 47 where they pass through the plate, 40, and the connection of the strips to the cont-act pins is made in the usual manner by clamping between nuts, 48 and 49', screwed onto the lower ends of the pins below the plate, 40.

The switch comprises an insulating mounting block, 50, of porcelain or bakclite, which, with the parts mounted thereon as about to be described, is dilncnsioned for litting snugly in the rear end of the axial cavity of the hand-piece. To the mount, 50, there are secured conducting clips, 5l and 52, having binding screws, 53, for securing to said clips respectively the upper ends of the conducting strips, 45 and 46. In the lower part of the cavity, 57, of the mount, 50, there are mounted two switch contacts, 54 and 55, having their ends, 54h-55a, spaced apart for admitting between' them a snap-over member, 59, of the switch, the contact, 54, being secured to the circuit clip, 51, and the contact clip, 55, being secured to the circuit clip, 52, as seen at 54b and 55", respectively. The snap-over switch member, 59, is of construe# tion familiar in snap switches, comprising in addition to the part identified by the reterence numeral, 59, a cooperating member, 60, pivoted to the part, 59, at 6l and formed with a symmetrical cam terminal, 60a. which cooperates with the plunger, 62, mounted in the member, 59, and stressed against the cam terminal, 60, by a spring, 63, stopping at its lower end in the loop of the part, 69,`as-

seen in Figure 4. The action of this snap switch will be understood from the drawings and the foregoing description, to the intent that, at the position shown in Figure 4, the member, 59, is out of contact with the contacts, 54 and 55, and that upon rocking the member, 60, over its pivot to the opposite position, the reaction between the symmetrical cam terminal, 60", and the spring-pressed plunger causes the part, 59, to swing 'to the limit of its range of movement, carrying its loop end between and into Contact with both thccontaets, 54 and 55. For thus operating the switch'there is provided a, slide, 70, Iseated in the upper side of the axial cavity of the hand piece having at the rear end a slot, 7l, which engages the upper end of thc snap switch, 60, for rocking it over its pivot, 6l, as the slide is reciprocated, said slide extending to the forward end of the handle where it is engaged at a slot, 72, with an operating lever, 74, pivoted at the lower end on a clip, 75, carried at the forward end of the rod, 35, on the nut, 33a, said lever being accommodated in a notch or slot, 27, in the forward end of the hand-piece, 27, dimensioned for accommodating also a terminal knob, 76, which is drive titted onto the protruding end of the lever, 74, as the concluding step in the process of assembling the parts. The slide, 70, is most conveniently made of two separate pieces of metal secured together by an insulating cleat, 78, the proximate ends of the two pieces of the part, 70, being spaced apart so that the slide shall not short-circuit thc current in the movement of the snap switch for closing the circuit. 'The conducting strips` 45 and 46, at the rear side of the rear upright, 25, are protected by a cover, 80, of sheet metal faced on its 'inner side with mica insulation, as indicated at 8l.

Upon considering the construction as above described and shown in the drawings, it will be recognized that the invention provides a very compact structure of simple exterior outline with a minimum of protruding features, having the energizing circuit at all times easil under control ofthe operator while manipulating the iron or upon interrupting such manipulation, because of the installation of the switch in the hand-piece of the handle with the controlling trigger at the forward end where it is in convenient reach of the operators thumb while grasping the hand-piece, but at the same time not in position where it is liable to be unintentionally operated.

I claim:

1. In an electric iron, the handle having an axially chambered hand-piece; a switch for controlling the circuit mounted in the chamber of the hand-piece; uprights at whose upper ends, lapped on the hand-piece, the latter is mounted at its front and rear ends; a tie rod extending through the hand-piece secured at its ends to the lapped ends of the uprights;

a nut on the front end of the tie rod for securing it to the front upright, and a bracket swivelled on the nut for carrying a switchoperating finger piece, andan operating link extending therefrom in the handpiece to the switch.

2. In an electric iron, a handle having an axially chambered hand-piece; a switch for controlling the circuit mounted in the chamber ofjthe hand-piece; uprights at whose upper ends, lapped on the hand-piece, the latter is mounted at its front and rear ends, a tie rod extending through the hand-piece secured at its ends to the lapped ends of the uprights, the forward end of the rod beingthreaded and the forward upright having a hole o larger diameter than the tie rod, and aheaded nut threaded for engagement with -the threaded end of the tie rod and diametered to enter theclip of the operating lever and the hole in the upright, for securing the handle at the forward end, the tie rod at the rear end being axially bored and tapped, and a headed screw set through4 the rear upright for screwing into the tie rod.

3. A manually operable electrically energized implement having an energizing .circuit in the body, a handle by which it is manipulated for directing it in the work to be performed, the handle hand piece being axially chambered and having a supporting l standard comprising front and rear u rights formed at their upper -ends for lappln the open ends of the axial chamber of the and piece, the ener 'zing circuit comprising conductors exten ing up behind the rear upf right insulated therefrom, a mount `of insulating material lodged in the hand piece n Y chamber toward the rear end thereof, circuit carrying elements mounted on said insulating mount arranged for attachment of said conductors respectively, and co-operating members of asnap switch also mounted on said insulating mount', and a tietrod^extend ing -longitudinally throu h the hand piece connecting the upper en s ofthe uprights, said4 tie rod being at its rear part formed with an offset portion anda shoulder for .extending alongside .the insulating mount and binding the same against the rear upright at the lap of the latter on the end of the hand piece. In atestimony whereof, I have hereuntoset my hand at Chicago', Illinois, this 29th day of September, 1927. l

GEORGE BROWNING. 

